Thick Drum Hits with HalfTime

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We love the HalfTime VST by Cableguys, because it’s totally dedicated to half-speed effects, which are all the rage these days. We use it on samples a lot – mostly just for the bridge or breakdown to shift the mood – sometimes for the main part of the sample too! No other plugin let’s you experiment so intuitivley within the realm of lower speeds. But a couple weeks ago, we saw a video which shows how you can even use the plugin to fatten up your drums and craft thick drum hits! Check the video below for a short introduction to this technique:

Beginning with a dry snare beat, HalfTime is added, instantly dropping the pitch – but also altering the rhythm. The Loop parameter is lowered until the original rhythm is preserved. The Band control is then adjusted to focus the effect on a frequency range. From there, the balance between the dry and HalfTimed snare is easily set using the Mix knob.

This technique also works great on kick drums, claps, and even full percussive loops. Because HalfTime’s pitchshifting is synced to the beat, the results are often more solid, punchy and consistent than with general purpose pitchshifting plugins. Bonus tip: Use HalfTime’s Smooth control to shape your HalfTimed transients and tails!